is so painfully plainly human who is sick all the time, folliwing rules, working so hard, minding other people with respect, and being practical, and tortured by his own people and yet did not give up such basic principles of life. He was respected for his personal quality and the 100% winning battle results was natural against Japanese Amadas.This movie does not depict much of his personal quality you can glimpse when you read books about him including his own diary. This movie fails to describe the people around that era and people right next to him in my opinion. Much has been altered in the modern Korean people's views. They had a totally different philosophy and view of the world then. The perception of China and Japan by Koreans were different from nowadays.What this movie succeeded in my opinion is that it for the first time tried to describe the particular battle of Myungryang with some good cinematic foundation. It is a bit corny and not perfect but overall, the battle was well studied and the combat scope was well depicted. Admiral Yi's war will be very hard to describe in pictures as he had extremely well pre-mediated plan/strategy before he engaged any sea battle. He was a perfectionist. So, it is hard to pick out all the critical elements he laied out playing his war game. He was a very serious and sophisticated person showing in military combats. So, it is not about a great hero with great anger and energy rampaging in enemy's territory with powerful fists.The movie is slow a bit and the plot is not perfect. With some errors incorporated, too. However, the battle scene itself, if you carefully watch, is interesting and the visuals are not too bad. Although, I would have preferred more CGI work.He used his life philosophy and principles in the battle ahead of weaponry and tactics. He did not give up and even with only 12 ships against over 300 ships, he made his best war strategy not giving up again and we can see the strategy there.It was perhaps the most amazing battle in human history and this movie manages to be close to show it. Not quite but almost. So, my score for the great effort to achieve almost impossible job.

honest script, will endure the ages, way after I we are gone, this story must survive. True masterpiece theater. When the Asians are on, they are extremely hard to beat, not just in battle but at the arts! Bravo.

movies will have, but even with that, this is still a top 5 movie.

I'll go see it a second time since there was so much detail in the film. I loved the costumes everyone wore! One thing I like about Korean films is they use good acting and a strong plot to tell the story. The problem with American movies is there's so much CGI and special effects to help develop the story that a crappy story with a lot of special effects can still be a blockbuster. I'm getting the blu ray when it comes out!! Go see it!!

first half can be a bit dull, explaining the background. While even grade school kids in Korea will know this by heart, this is probably to give explanation to the Westerners, most who probably will not be familiar with Korean history.The war scenes later, however, will be satisfying. Though there is some level of exaggeration, the film does try to stay realistic. The naval action scenes are also quite something to see. I've seen some reviews trying to compare this to the film 300's sequels, but don't expect the B-grade stuff.This film is said to be divided into 2 parts, and the sequel is currently being made, which will probably cover the Noryang Battle 露梁海戰 , the last naval battle in the war.Myungryang 鳴梁 is a strait in Southern Korea. The Chinese character myung 鳴 means the cry of a bird, named for the sound of the fierce waves in the area. It was a sea route avoided even by the locals, and the perfect place to set a deadly trap for foes.---------------------------------- Admiral YI Sun-Shin is a heroic figure in Korea's history, and hundreds of films / TV shows have already been made. While the subject probably should get boring, every 3-5 years a new piece is made, and gains popularity. Koreans do not forget the blood that's been shed to protect this land.KIM Han Min director previously made "The War of Arrows" also a period film showing action using bows, historically the Koreans' favorite weapon. The time period is after the Japanese War, when Koreans are invaded by the Manchurians.

The Alamo .Also, the ratio of odds is exactly the same. The Alamo writers use 180 Texan troops fighting against 5000 Mexican troops. Whereas, The Admiral writers use 12 Korean ships against 330 Japanese ships. That is exactly the same odds ratio. EXAMPLE: 12 ships times 10 120 ships. 330 ships times 10 3300 ships. add half as many more and you get 180 ships against 4950 ships sounds like 180 men against 5000 men .Either history repeats herself around the world or else these writers are deceiving us into thinking their plots are original?Consider the Israelite story of Moses, King Saul, and King David. Then consider the Roman/Greek story of the Emperor Nero. Nero's life was very similar to the combined lives of Moses/Saul/David.Davy Crockett's life can be compared to Jesus Christ in great detail. Davy was even purported to have risen from the dead and appeared to many in Mexico City after the fall of the Alamo and his death . Davy bled the 5000 whereas Jesus fed the 5000. And so on.And COL Jim Bowie, COL Davy Crockett, and LT COL William Travis are considered the Holy Trinity of the Alamo.Perhaps the Admiral is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost all rolled up into one? Or should I add Moses too, making 4? We have to add in General Sam Houston into the mix to make a victory for the Texans. So perhaps the Admiral is: Moses, God, Jesus, Holy Spirit all rolled up into one, or Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, William Travis, and Sam Houston all rolled up into one?

famous and according to many including myself also the best contemporary actor from South Korea; the charismatic Choi Min-sik who rose to fame with his roles in the spy thriller "Shiri", the mystery-thriller "Oldboy" and the psychological horror movie "I Saw the Devil" among others.The movie revolves around the Battle of Myeongnyang around 1597 which took place during the Imjin War when Japan tried to invade the Korean peninsula and even parts of Ming Dynasty China. After a disastrous defeat, the Korean fleet only consisted of 13 warships while the Japanese gathered 133 warships and around 200 logistical support ships. The Japanese fleet was headed for the Korean capital Hanyang to support their land's army but general Yi Sun-shin decided to battle the superior enemy in a strait. By using the dangerous currents in the strait and a tactically well chosen emplacement for his fleet, the admiral was able to destroy several Japanese warships and to push back the enemy. The unexpected defeat shocked the Japanese and encouraged the Koreans. Joseon Dynasty's navy was able to regroup with Ming Dynasty's army and the Japanese were expelled out of the Korean peninsula the next year.The film shows us the weeks before the famous battle, an extensive depiction of the battle itself and its immediate aftermath and a short look beyond in the concluding minutes. This movie is separated in two almost equal parts. The first hour introduces the viewers to the historical context, the desperate condition of the Korean navy and the inhabitants in general and the most important characters from both sides of the belligerents. I feel that this part of the movie is slightly too long. Instead of focusing on too many characters and a lot of tactical dialogs, the movie could have shown us the origins of the war to get a better idea of the entire context. It would have been a great idea to start the film with Won Gyun's disastrous defeat against the Japanese navy during the Battle of Chilcheollyang and to quickly show how a nearly defeated country arose from its ashes to gather for a final decisive battle. While the set pieces and special effects look stunning, the dialogs on the first hour of the movie are exhausting and the acting is only of an average quality despite the promising cast. Both the acting and the dialogs are somewhat wooden. There is no character one could somehow sympathize with and the acting is not what viewers will retain from this movie.The movie gets a boost during the second hour that is almost entirely dedicated to the battle itself. Some people might think that almost an hour of naval battle might be overlong and repetitive but that's not the case in here. This is one of the very finest, if not the very best naval battle ever shown in cinema. There are many ups and downs during the battle, several different strategies are used and even the fights themselves vary from cannon fire, over confrontations with bows and arrows and intense sword fights to a few elements of martial arts duels. A few clever tactical tricks from both sides are also added to the epic battle. Acting, choreographies, images, score, sounds, special effects and stunts are reaching one high point after another in the entertaining second half of this movie. The last five minutes after the final battle are a short but nice conclusion closing the circle to the beginning of the film that gives the viewers the occasion to calm down again.While the set pieces and most parts of the story are faithful to the historical background, some elements depicting the different historical characters and parts of the battle itself might be dramatized to a certain degree. That's why the movie has a slightly patriotic touch but this is only some minor criticism as this film isn't as exaggerated as many contemporary Chinese war movies for example.In the end, fans of epic war movies will get what they desire. The naval battle is detailed, diversified, emotional, entertaining, epic and intense. It's probably the best naval battle in the history of cinema. This stunning second half pardons for a few lengths in the opening hour that sets the context of the battle in a solid but also slightly dusty and lengthy way. This film isn't the best Korean movie of all times by any means and maybe slightly over-hyped. Still, this is better than any comparable war history movie from the Western world I have seen in the past ten years or more. If you want to see even better Korean war movies, I can highly suggest you "Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War" from 2004 and "My Way" from 2011.

Korean uses a flat bottom ship. Japanese uses more traditional design. Korean navy has zero turtle iron clad ship in this engagement. That should be enough to enjoy one of the best ancient naval battle captured by this movie.

pretty amazing what they could do with ships back in those days.The history/characters in the movie is a little hard to follow if you don't know about it beforehand or don't speak Korean/Japanese, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit and learned a little bit of Korean history in the process.